About Us
Testimonials by Survivors of Systemic Emotional Abuse in Schools
Purple Speaks is a collective safe space for sharing testimonials and narratives, of students both past and present — instances where during their academic journey they have ever been made to feel emotionally abused or marginalized, especially by people in positions of authority.
This is an attempt to spread awareness about the emotional abuse of children through institutionalized bullying that continues to be rampant, often in the guise of discipline. We intend to open channels of communication between students (past and present), parents and educators, so that we can better understand what goes through a child’s mind, what happens to families and how this trauma can have a long lasting impact.
When we think of bullying, we generally bring to mind instances by peers or seniors — but it is often a form of systemic abuse, a culture of communication that even children imbibe from those they look up to.
One’s school experience is key to developing a sense of self and safeguarding a child’s mental health since it is where children spend the highest amount of time, apart from their home. A school provides a protective environment, which helps preserve a child’s mental health, and build resilience. Even if the home is dysfunctional—financially or emotionally, the school is supposed to operate as a safe space.
What happens when the sanctity of this safe space is violated?
Through this platform, we attempt to address such questions and explore preventive measures along with systemic changes which can bring about reforms in respecting the rights of children and creating a nurturing environment.
On principle, we as a platform:
- Do not wish to name or disclose the identities of any specific educators or institutions
- Refuse to participate in perpetuating an elitist culture. Therefore, our testimonies can be in non ‘Standard English,’ the stories they say are more important than the language they use. This drives our editorial policy as well. We only make editorial changes where it affects readability. We don’t tamper with our contributor’s writing styles or impose pre-defined standards of English language usage on them
- Will maintain anonymity of contributors where requested
Read our Submission Guidelines here
Disclaimer: All writings on this blog are published with a bonafide intention of informative purposes only and must not be construed as professional expertise on any subject matter. They are not meant to defame or offend any individual, organisation or community. The opinions, facts and ideas expressed in the blog solely belong to their respective authors and are authentic to the best of their knowledge and subject to change without prior notice. Any error in the information provided in the blog is unintentional and readers are advised to read at their own risk.
Trigger Warning (TW): Mental Abuse | Emotional Abuse | Verbal Abuse| Non-Verbal Abuse | Childhood Abuse | Writings on this platform may carry content that might potentially trigger our readers. Reader discretion is advised.
